India Cuts LPG Refill Booking Interval to 25 Days
The Indian government has reduced the booking interval for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refills from 45 to 25 days, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi announced on Monday.
This revised booking interval will apply uniformly to LPG consumers in both urban and rural areas. The change was made after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas directed oil marketing companies (OMCs) - Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL - to implement a 25-day inter-refill booking interval for domestic LPG consumers in both urban and rural areas, with immediate effect.
The decision was taken due to the present LPG supply position and the considerable reduction in refill backlogs as compared to the situation prevailing at the time of introduction of demand-management measures. The Ministry had earlier set maximum LPG production targets for 24 refinery and upstream oil companies, with a combined production capacity of 63.81 thousand metric tonnes per day (KTPD), in a bid to bolster domestic cooking-gas supplies and enhance resilience against potential supply disruptions.